The present invention is related to the construction of an umbrella cover. More particularly, the present invention is directed to the construction of an umbrella cover which utilizes a single piece of cloth wherein the peripheral edges extend either parallel or orthogonal to the warp and the weft of the cover material. Further, this invention is directed to the construction of an umbrella cover wherein the umbrella ribs are coupled to the umbrella cover so as to form a twilled structure to allow stretching of the material along the bias, the radial lines extending from the center of the cover, defined by the umbrella ribs.
In some prior art systems, such as that shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, umbrella covers are formed by a plurality of gores 80, as shown in FIG. 1B. In such prior art covers the number of gores 80 utilized typically corresponds to the number of umbrella ribs to be coupled thereto. As shown in FIG. 1A, the gores 80 are sewn together by a plurality of stitched seams 81, the number of seams being equal to the number of umbrella ribs. Therefore, any decorative pattern printed on the umbrella cover cannot be formed on a single cover cloth prior to the assembly of the plurality of gores 80.
Prior art methods for manufacturing umbrella covers typically require the material to have received its decorative printing prior to the tailoring operations. However, in the trimming operations wherein the gores 80 are cut from a single piece of material, some waste portions 82 will inevitably exist, as shown in FIG. 1C. Thus, some of the printed pattern will be removed, making it unlikely that the pattern disposed on each of the gores can be matched when the gores are sewn together to form the umbrella cover. Further, the arcuate radially extending stitched seams 81 coupling the gores together will also interfere with attempts to match the pattern. Further, well matched patterns are more difficult to obtain in mass production type operations since the processes for trimming the gores and sewing the arcuate seams are not easily controlled.
In view of this matching problem in the manufacture of prior art umbrella covers, decorative patterns must be applied to each individual gore 80 and then subsequently sewn together to form an umbrella cover. However, the radially extending sewn seams still provide an interruption to the decorative pattern of the umbrella cover.
Other prior art systems have provided an improvement to the construction of umbrella covers by using the property of some materials like nylon, taffeta, etc. These materials do not stretch along the direction of the warp or the weft, but are able to stretch along an oblique direction, the bias. As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, the gores are trimmed along the warp and the weft and sewn together to form an umbrella cover cloth wherein the peripheral straight edges are either parallel or orthogonal to the warp and the weft of the cloth. The construction providing twilled seams provided at the radial stitching, thereby letting the umbrella cover provide a curved surface when it is stretched by the umbrella ribs, when the umbrella is opened.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an umbrella cover formed from a single piece of cloth.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an umbrella cover formed from a single piece of cloth to which matching supplementary cloths are coupled to peripheral portions thereof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an umbrella cover which is easily manufactured and upon which a decorative pattern can be printed thereon.
These and other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: